House to vote on legislation to make lynching a federal hate crime

The House will vote next week on legislation to make lynching a federal hate crime, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced Thursday. 

The Democratic-controlled House will vote on the bill, introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) on Wednesday. 

“102 years ago, Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer of Missouri introduced the first antilynching legislation to pass the House, but tragically, that bill would die in the Senate. However, with today’s announcement, we are one step closer to finally outlawing this heinous practice and achieving justice for over four thousand victims of lynching, including Emmitt Till,” Rush said in a statement. 

“From Charlottesville to El Paso, we are still being confronted with the same violent racism and hatred that took the life of Emmett and so many others. The passage of this bill will send a strong and clear message to the nation that we will not tolerate this bigotry,” he said.

The bill is named for Emmett Till, the 14-year-old African American boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. 

The Senate, in a bill introduced by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), passed anti-lynching legislation last year. 

Harris and Booker cheered the House’s decision to vote on the lynching bill in a statement Thursday reported by InsiderNJ. 

“While we cannot undo the irrevocable damage of lynching and its pervasive legacy, we can ensure that we as a country make clear that lynching will not be tolerated,” Booker said. 

“I’m grateful for the partnership of Senators Booker and Scott, and I applaud the House of Representatives for bringing this important legislation to the floor. This justice is long overdue,” Harris said.